February 01, 2008
Reaching the midway point through the Big 12 Conference season, the 23rd-ranked Texas A&M women?â„¢s basketball team (15-6, 3-4) has strung together back-to-back league victories against Kansas and Missouri to add a boost of confidence to the defending Big 12 champions. Nine games remain, but the final stretch gets even tougher with Big 12 South opponents lined up in the foyer. The Aggies travel to Texas Tech (14-6, 2-4) for a Saturday, Feb. 2 shootout with the Lady Raiders at United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, Texas. Opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. as the Texas Tech men host Oklahoma State prior to the nightcap. Five of A&M?â„¢s first seven games of conference play have come against the likes of the Big 12 North with just two January meetings versus its Southern counterparts. The Aggies are looking to make a fresh start in February after going 4-4 last month. It will be a challenge as playing in Lubbock has always presented difficulties for the Aggies with a 2-26 lifetime road block at Tech. However, A&M?â„¢s signature defensive swagger has returned and has forced its last two opponents to commit an average of 25.0 turnovers per game. The Aggie defense has also limited opponents to 56.1 points per game which is third-best in the Big 12 and a league-leading 24.5 percentage from beyond the three-point arc.
SCOUTING THE LADY RAIDERS
Texas Tech enjoyed a bye week and has won two of its last four league games including a 62-44 win over Colorado on Jan. 26. Post players Dominic Seals (14.4 ppg) and Erin Myrick (11.1 ppg) are a lethal one-two combination for the Lady Raiders. They account for 36 percent of the team?â„¢s overall scoring and 33 percent of the team?â„¢s overall rebounding this season. Tech leads the Big 12 in rebounding (46.0) and has outrebounded opponents by an average margin of 9.7 boards per game which ranks ninth nationally and third-best in the league. The Lady Raiders have defeated two top 25 opponents this season in No. 18 Arizona State (73-69) on Dec. 13 and No. 24 Texas (70-58) on Jan. 20, but are 2-3 overall with losses to No. 8 Baylor, No. 25 Arkansas and No. 11 Oklahoma. They have compiled a 10-2 mark at United Spirit Arena with home losses to Houston and BU. The Lady Raiders currently rank fifth in the nation in attendance with an average of 8,790 fans per game.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2007-08 Stats)
#10 A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin, G, 5-3, Sr. (7.8 ppg, 4.6 apg)
#3 Takia Starks, G, 5-8, Jr. (17.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg)
#55 Danielle Gant, G/F, 5-11, Jr. (14.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg)
#24 Patrice Reado, F, 6-0, Sr. (8.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg)
#12 La Toya Micheaux, C, 6-3, Jr. (3.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg)
TEXAS TECH
No. Name (2007-08 Stats)
#3 Maria Moore, G, 5-5, Jr. (8.7 ppg, 4.6 apg)
#23 Tiny Henderson, G, 5-7, Jr. (3.2 ppg, 1.5 rpg)
#31 Ashlee Roberson, F, 5-11, So. (5.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg)
#41 Dominic Seals, F, 6-2, Jr. (14.4 ppg, 9.1 rpg)
#34 Erin Myrick, C, 6-3, Sr. (11.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg)
SERIES NOTES
Texas Tech holds a commanding 52-11 lead in the all-time series between the two schools. A&M?â„¢s current three-game win streak is its longest in the 63-game series which dates back to the 1975-76 season. The Aggies have only won twice in Lubbock (1980 and 2007) including last year?â„¢s 49-47 thriller which also marked A&M?â„¢s first road win at Tech in the Big 12 Era. For the first time since the league?â„¢s inception in 1996-97, A&M claimed the series sweep of Texas Tech with a 67-51 victory in College Station on Feb. 21, 2007. Their back-to-back wins in the series also marked a first since winning two in a row in 1979 and 1980. Three of the Aggies?â„¢ 11 overall victories in the series have occurred in its current three-game stretch.
LAST TIME OUT
Morenike Atunrase had 18 points and five rebounds to lift No. 16 Texas A&M to a 67-51 victory over Texas Tech on Feb. 21, 2007 at Reed Arena. The Aggies scored the first 10 points of the game and led 37-24 at halftime. They went 5-of-6 from the floor in their game-opening 10-0 stretch. A&M picked up its first-ever sweep over Texas Tech in the Big 12 Conference era and in the all-time series. They also extended their home-court winning streak to a program-best 17 consecutive games at Reed Arena. Atunrase went 5-of-8 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. She recorded her 1,000th career point against the Lady Raiders. Danielle Gant added 13 points and seven rebounds, while A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies. La Toya Micheaux led A&M with a career-high 13 rebounds. Jordan Murphree had 19 points and six rebounds to lead the Lady Raiders. She hit 6-of-14 from the field and made all seven of her free throws. Texas Tech pulled to 39-32 with 15:42 remaining in the game but could get no closer. A&M went on an 8-2 run, with Atunrase scoring all eight points, to take a 47-34 lead with 12:02 left. The Aggies?â„¢ lead grew to 19 points with 3:08 remaining. Both teams struggled from the field. The Aggies hit only 40 percent of their shots for the game, but the Lady Raiders fared even worse. Tech shot only 33 percent and turned the ball over 20 times. A&M scored 16 of its final 67 points off Tech miscues.
DID YOU KNOW?
?* Head coach Gary Blair is 2-6 all-time versus Texas Tech in his 23 years as a Division I head coach. Blair earned his bachelor?â„¢s degree in health and physical education in 1972 and his master?â„¢s degree in education in 1974 from Texas Tech. He also played a season of baseball for the Red Raiders. Last year?â„¢s 49-47 victory in Lubbock marked Blair?â„¢s first-ever win against his alma mater in seven tries.
?* Texas Tech assistant coach Kelly Curry is a Class of 1990 graduate of Texas A&M. He is married to second-year Texas Tech head coach Kristy Curry who served as an assistant coach under former Aggie head coach Candi Harvey from 1994-96. Curry also comes from a long line of coaching greats who have come out of Stephen F. Austin as she served as an assistant coach in Nacogdoches from 1993-94.
?* Senior forward Katy Pounds (Shallowater, Texas) returns home to the Lubbock area for the final time of her A&M career. Prior to the season, she was placed on medical scholarship due to degenerative changes in both of her knees that will not permit her to finish out her playing career at A&M. She has served on the sidelines as a student assistant coach this season after playing in 76 career games with one start for the Aggies. This past summer, she helped Texas A&M associate head coach Vic Schaefer lead the U.S. Women?â„¢s Jones Cup Team to a bronze-medal finish serving as the youngest assistant coach in U.S. Jones Cup history. Pounds has also taken up color analyst duties on the Texas A&M Sports Network next to radio play-by-play announcer Tom Turbiville who is also a Texas Tech graduate.
FAMILY TIES
The next two weekends will be a family reunion of sorts for two freshmen players on the A&M roster. Both of their family households will have to choose between wearing Maroon and White, Scarlet and Black or Burnt Orange and White to the games. Talk about a house divided! This weekend, freshman guard Maryann Baker (Dallas, Texas) will reunite with her brother, Ben, who is a junior third baseman on the Texas Tech baseball team. Baker was rated the No. 25 best shooting guard in the country out of Bishop Lynch High School. Next weekend, freshman point guard Sydney Colson (Houston, Texas) will reunite with her older brother, Simmie IV, and sister, Simone, who both attend rival UT in Austin. Colson was rated the 29th overall prospect in the Class of 2007 out of Westside High School.
THREE TIMES THE CHARM
Former players Lisa Langston, Michelle Tatum and Jenni Edgar are the only A&M trio in school history to have reached the 1,000 career-point plateau during the same season (1984-85). No Aggie squad has ever produced the elusive four which only 11 known teams have accomplished in NCAA women?â„¢s basketball history. Senior point guard A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin (Tyler, Texas) looks to join fellow teammates Morenike Atunrase (1,132) and Takia Starks (1,183) as the second trio to do so as she is 15 points shy of 1,000 career points (985). Franklin is also eyeing another career milestone as she is four assists away from turning in her fourth consecutive 100+ assist season (96). Only two other players in school history, All-American Lisa Branch (1992-96) and Toccara Williams (2000-04), have dished out 100-or-more assists in four-straight seasons. Most notably, Franklin would become only the third player in school history to record 1,000 career points and 500 career assists (550) next to Branch and Williams. She also ranks third all-time in three-pointers made (137) and three-pointers attempted (419).
THE BARMORE COACHING TREE
Four head coaches in the Big 12 have Louisiana Tech roots under Women?â„¢s Basketball Hall of Fame coach Leon Barmore including Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair who served as an assistant coach from 1980-85. During his five seasons in Ruston, La. Tech won two national championships and made four NCAA Final Four appearances. Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey starred for the Lady Techsters from 1980-84 and was coached by Barmore and Blair. She later served as an assistant coach at her alma mater from 1985-2000 and helped lead the Lady Techsters to seven NCAA Final Fours. Meanwhile, Texas Tech head coach Kristy Curry served as an assistant coach at La. Tech from 1996-99 before landing her first head coaching job at Purdue. After Barmore?â„¢s retirement in 2002, Oklahoma State head coach Kurt Budke took over the reins at Louisiana Tech for three seasons before producing his turnaround in Stillwater.
LONE STAR SHOWDOWN ON THE HORIZON
Up next, the Aggies will enjoy its first bye week of the season in preparation for the first installment of the State Farm Lone Star Showdown versus rival Texas (15-6, 3-4) on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 11 a.m. The game will be televised live from Reed Arena on Fox Sports Net. Tickets for one of the most intense college rivalries in the nation can be purchased by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE.
MISSOURI RECAP
No. 23 Texas A&M used a strong first-half defensive effort to cruise to its second-straight Big 12 win with a 62-43 rout of Missouri on Jan. 29 at Reed Arena. The Aggie defense forced an impressive 19 turnovers in the game?â„¢s first 20 minutes, leading to 22 of their 36 first-half points. The Aggies outscored Missouri 22-4 in points off turnovers in the frame to key the win in the 1,000th game in Texas A&M history. Individually, A&M rode on the backs of juniors Danielle Gant and Takia Starks in the scoring column. The two combined with senior Patrice Reado to score 45 of the Aggies?â„¢ 62 points in the contest. Starks produced a game-high 18 points in addition to tossing in four rebounds. Gant was the game?â„¢s second-leading scorer, piling 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting as well as a 6-of-7 effort from the free throw line. She also contributed seven boards and added a game-high four steals. Her five offensive rebounds equaled that of the entire Missouri team for the contest. Reado?â„¢s 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting marked her fourth-best scoring output of the season. She also added six boards in the Aggies?â„¢ third consecutive win over the Tigers. Mizzou was led in scoring by Shakara Jones who had 15.
AGGIES ON THE RADIO
All Texas A&M women?â„¢s basketball games can be heard via a radio broadcast on the Texas A&M Sports Network. Play-by-play announcer Tom Turbiville will call the action live from United Spirit Arena alongside Steve Miller on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on www.AggieAthletics.com.
CONFERENCE ROLL CALL
Sole possession of the top spot in the Big 12 standings will be decided in a showdown between the league?â„¢s two undefeated 7-0 teams in Baylor and Kansas State on Saturday afternoon in Manhattan, Kan. The Lady Bears and Wildcats hold a three-game lead over the rest of the pack. Oklahoma State and Oklahoma are both tied for third place with identical 4-2 marks in league play followed by fifth-place Nebraska (4-3). Rounding out the top half of the league is Texas A&M and rival Texas who share a tie for sixth place at 3-4. Texas Tech and Iowa State are tied for eighth (2-4) and Kansas and Missouri are tied for 11th (1-6).
BIG 12 CONFERENCE STANDINGS
1T. Baylor (19-1, 7-0)
1T. Kansas State (15-5, 7-0)
3T. Oklahoma State (16-3, 4-2)
3T. Oklahoma (14-4, 4-2)
5. Nebraska (15-6, 4-3)
6T. Texas (15-6, 3-4)
6T. Texas A&M (15-6, 3-4)
8T. Texas Tech (14-6, 2-4)
8T. Iowa State (13-6, 2-4)
10. Colorado (13-7, 2-5)
11T. Kansas (12-8, 1-6)
11T. Missouri (8-12, 1-6)